Hidden away on the state line between Pennsylvania and Delaware, lies a spectacular park called Beaver Valley. Owned by the National Park Service, it has 1,100 acres of pastures, fields, forested hills and stream valleys. That’s simply too much land to cover so today, we will be talking about the section known as the Woodlawn Short Loop.
The Woodlawn Short Loop is home to many cool things. It has a stream running through it that provides juxtaposition to the forest around it. That stream starts out small and simple on the east end and becomes a series of rapids and waterfalls on the west end. At around the 12 O’clock section of the trail sits some English Quaker ruins that are from the 19th century.
This section sits just north of Brandywine Creek State Park in the area right behind Hy-Point Dairy Farms. The easiest parking lot to access the Quaker ruins and waterfalls is on Beaver Valley Road across the road from Cloverleaf Stables. There will be a National Park Service sign to let you know exactly where but the sign is on the wrong side of the road.
This is not the hardest area to hike. I’d say the only difficult thing about hiking here is the fact that none of the creek crossings have bridges. You have to either rock hop or get your feet wet. The streams are only about 6 inches to a foot deep, so it is nothing crazy. With the high number of stables and farms in the region, you do have to watch out for horses and horse excrement. You should also keep your eye out for cyclists and other hikers as well.
Beaver Valley was recommended to me about 2 weeks ago and although I have only been a handful of times, I really want to go back. From the moment I set foot on the trail, I knew this area was unlike any place in Delaware that I had been to before. There is a feeling to this place that cannot be named. The best description of that feeling is a sense of discovery, like there’s something to find around each bend and valley.
For more information on Woodlawn Short Loop, check out the AllTrails page. For more information on Beaver Valley, here is the National Park Service’s website.